


To Buy or Not To Buy (The Candle)

by Fangirl_on_fire



Series: AUs, AUs, and AUs [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Burger King - Freeform, Christmas Eve, Christmas Presents, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Steve needs to buy candles for his mum, bad candles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 19:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11996346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl_on_fire/pseuds/Fangirl_on_fire
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and Steve is just trying to buy a good Christmas candle for his mum. However, after an hour of fruitless searching, he's pretty sure that his nose is broken. Maybe the cute guy next to him can help?AU - 'we're both in the store and I'm trying to find a good Christmas candle for my mum, what do you think about this scent'





	To Buy or Not To Buy (The Candle)

Steve sighed and picked up yet another candle. It was Christmas Eve and he was trying to find a good Christmas candle for his mum, but he was having a hard time finding something good. He was in the candle section of a large department store that he didn't even know the name of, but the candle section was so large that he didn't even know where to start. He checked the name of the candle he was currently holding: 'Cinnamon rush'. He brought it up to his nose to smell it, and frowned. It didn't even smell like cinnamon. 

His eyes scanned the shelf for another scent. His eyes caught on 'Spiced Cider'. He smelt it, and his spirits lifted a little. It smelt good, and it wasn't too strong for his mum's delicate nose. However, when he checked the price, his heart sank. It was far too expensive. 

_It's just a candle,_ he thought. _Why does a candle have to be so expensive?!_

He put the candle back on the shelf with a sigh, and kept looking. There were a few interesting ones, like 'Vanilla Bean', 'Frosted Cranberry', and 'Sweater Weather'. However, Vanilla Bean smelt like maple fudge and his mum hated fudge; Frosted Cranberry's scent was so weak Steve could barely smell it; and Sweater Weather smelt absolutely horrible. 

Steve huffed, and picked up yet another candle: 'Sparkling Snow'. He smelt it, but it didn't really smell amazing. It didn't smell bad, though, and it was affordable. Steve needed a second opinion. He turned to the man looking at another candle next to him. 

"Uh, excuse me?" The man didn't respond so Steve raised his voice a little. "Excuse me?" 

The man frowned and turned to Steve. "What?" 

"Sorry to bother you," Steve said immediately, "but what do you think of this candle? I'm thinking of getting it for my mum" 

The man looked at him oddly, but he reached out for the candle and smelt it. Immediately, his nose wrinkled. "God, that smells awful. Seriously, don't give that candle to your mum unless you want her to drop dead from disgust immediately"

"Wow" Steve smelt the candle again, and shrugged. It didn't smell so bad to him, but granted, he had been smelling candles for over an hour so his nose was probably malfunctioning. He looked at the shelf again, and picked up the candle in front of him, which happened to be called 'Fresh Pine'. He smelt it, and immediately sneezed. 

"Bless you" The man beside him said without looking up from the candle he was holding. 

"Thanks" Steve sniffed. The candle was so strong that it sent the scent right up his nose.  "This candle is absolutely terrible" 

"Really?" The man looked vaguely curious. "Let me smell it" Steve handed the candle to the man, who took a sniff of it. The man sneezed even harder than Steve had, his eyes watering. "What the hell is that?!" 

Steve stifled a laugh, making the man glare at him. The man held the candle that he was holding out to Steve. 

"Here, smell this one. It might be nice" The man offered. Steve shrugged and took the candle, reading the label. The candle was called 'zesty lemon'. It didn't smell too bad, but it wasn't really what Steve had in mind. "I didn't really like it" 

"Me neither" Steve said, putting it back on the shelf. "Are you buying candles as a present, or...?" 

"No, I'm just browsing, really" The man replied. He didn't offer anything else, so Steve walked over to the next shelf. This shelf didn't have anything Christmassy, but Steve figured a normal candle would be better than no candle at all. He picked one up that read 'ocean breeze', and smelt it. As soon as the scent hit his nostrils, he gagged so hard that he almost dropped the candle. The man looked over at him, alarmed. 

"You alright?" He asked, rushing over. Steve nodded, his eyes watering and his nose burning. 

"Smell this" Steve said weakly. The man looked at him suspiciously, and took the candle from him, smelling it. Immediately, he dropped the candle and put his hands over his mouth as if he was about to throw up. Luckily, Steve caught the candle, and put it back on the shelf quickly. 

"You evil gremlin", the man choked out. "This is the worst candle I've ever smelt in my life, oh my God, my nose is burning and that candle can't possibly be an ocean breeze. A breeze in hell, maybe" 

Steve couldn't stop himself from laughing this time, though his nose was still burning too. "It is really horrible, isn't it?" 

"I need something nice to smell, now" The man demanded, looking around desperately. He picked up a candle that read 'Calla Lily' and smelt it quickly. However, his nose wrinkled again and he put it back quickly. "This is also bad- you know what, screw this, I'm getting out of this shop" Just as the man was about to storm off, he stopped and looked at Steve. "Hey, wanna come with me to eat something?" 

Steve looked him over. The man was quite handsome, with dark brown eyes and a goatee that suited him surprisingly well. He was wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt with shorts that seemed to be stained with engine oil. "Sure, what the hell" Steve decided.

The man grinned. "Then let's get out of here as soon as possible" Steve didn't need convincing. They left the store as quickly as they could, then slowed down their pace. 

"What's your name?" Steve asked, realizing that he didn't even know the man's name. 

"Tony, Tony Stark" The man – Tony replied. "Yours?" 

"Steve Rogers" Steve answered. "Where do you wanna go?" 

"Burger King?" Tony suggested. 

"Okay" Steve usually didn't eat fast food, but he didn't really have anything against it, either. Tony clearly knew his way to the food court, though, because he didn't bother checking the maps before getting on to an escalator. Luckily, the food court was quite close by, so within ten minutes they were seated at Burger King with their food in front of them. "Do you come here often?" 

"No, not really" Tony replied. Then, he laughed self-deprecatingly. "I usually don't leave my house, you know, except for stuff like work. Most of the time I work from home, actually, so I only have to attend meetings, and my secretary Pepper usually does that for me" 

"What do you do? In terms of work, I mean" Steve clarified. Tony looked at him, confused. 

"I own Stark Industries. You know, Tony Stark? I thought you recognized me!" 

"Why else would I ask your name?" Steve asked, puzzled. 

Tony threw his arms up in the air. "I don't know, I figured you were being polite! Steve, I'm literally in the tabloids every single week" 

"I don't really read tabloids" Steve shrugged. Then, when he noticed Tony open his mouth to say something else, he added "or watch television" 

"Well, at any rate, it's nice to meet someone who doesn't judge me instantly" Tony relented. 

"Don't worry, the only thing I'm judging you for is your horrible taste in fashion and music" Steve assured him. Tony looked indignant. 

"Black Sabbath is brilliant! Let me guess, you just listen to weird 80s music like some weird hipster?" 

"40s, actually" 

"That's even worse!" Tony practically yelled. "Ok, it's settled, next time you're coming over to mine and I will introduce you to the world of good music and pop culture"

"So there will be a next time?" Steve asked curiously. 

"That's such a cliché question," Tony rolled his eyes. "but yeah. Hopefully" 

"Okay," Steve couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Hopefully" 

**Author's Note:**

> All the candles I mentioned are actual real candles at a department store aND IM CRYING OCEAN BREEZE IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC IT'S LIKE A MIXTURE OF SALT AND VOMIT THAT WAS THROWN INTO THE SEVENTH CIRCLE OF HELL 
> 
> also I'm so confused??,?,,,? Calla Lily didn't smell anything like lilies??,?,? And when I smelt Vanilla it smelt like rotten cheese... I couldn't smell anything for the rest of the day...
> 
> I actually went to the store with my friend, so we kept making each other smell the worst candles... why do we torture ourselves like this


End file.
